HOUSE CAST IN LIQUID STONE
The house cast in liquid stone – architect’s noteA second home on a rocky outcrop at the start of the western ghats (highlands),Khopoli, in Maharashtra, India. An area of high precipitation in the monsoons, and equal heat during the summers, the site changes remarkably from March to July, with the onset of the south westerly monsoons.
Basalt the local black rock of the region is what this site was about.
We chose to build the house as an accretion on this rocky basalt outcrop with the same inherent material transformed. An outgrowth which was made of a mix of water, sand, cement and the granular basalt. Concrete finely honed to serve as refuge, to face the climatic changes that the site offered.
The house was conceived as a cast for human occupation, a refuge which trapped the views, the sun, the rain, the air, and became one with the cliff edge it stood on. Akin to the growth of a coral, the substance of the walls and roof dictate the experience of inhabiting the site.
Stone has been used in many forms, based on use, wear, grip, texture. The dark saturated black matt-ness conjures a cool sense of refuge and calm.
Photographs cannot express the sense of weight when one approaches, or the sense of release at the edge of the pool at the far end of the open terrace, the feeling of burrowing deeper enroute, past the stacked stones, to the lower bedroom.
The house, a cast, an object for living, whatever you may call it, has transformed into a belvedere to minutely observe and sense the spectacle of nature, of shade as a retreat against the sharp tropical sun, the resurgence of life, a sudden BURST of green, when the hard pounding monsoon arrives, the waft of breezes filling the air with the fragrance of moist earth, the movement of stars across the very dark night skies.
To heighten the drama of the the site through what we build, without building a dramatic building!! A peculiar one YES.....

GABION HOUSE
House with the Gabion
Pawnalake, offers some killer vistas.
This country home starts with a split Gabion wall, which acts as a spine and runs east to west.
All spaces in a one room thick linear organization attach themselves to the Gabion and a generous 10 foot wide verandah lined in local bricks.
The break in the Gabion becomes the point of entry, almost like slipping in discretely, into a densely planted court, confronted by a swing bed, framing the phenomenal view.
The innovation of the musket spouts and the full length Y-rain collector makes sure that the water shed by the roof is tamed and shot out away from the verandah. This is a high precipitation, catchment area.
The pool sort of drifts away from the verandah as a reflective mirror plane, pointing to the peak on the opposite shore.
Open showers, high rooms, terrazzo en-suites and brass lamps add to the overall frugal natural atmosphere. The Gabion has become overgrown and is ruinous and modern at once, in a way.

BAGAMOYO Location – Mumbai, India
After a slow construction period of 3 years, the house is a think service bar and a wider served bar in plan.
The roof valiantly launces in an upward slope to frame idyllic views of the “INDIAN OCEAN”.
The way light enters the project, through courts, skylights, thin windows and panoramic ones – comes as a pleasant surprise.
The giant wooden terrace at upper level is in direct dialogue with the Horizon. The clients called it “HEAVEN”. It’s inviting birds and butterflies; and simultaneously oxygenating the environment.

MANDVI HOUSE
Being the birth place and sacred hometown of the family, in Kutch – Gujarat,Mandvi holds a special place in the hearts of the clients.SPASM was already working on another project for the clients hence understanding the needs of the family was easy. Located in the inner city of Mandvi with very narrow streets, with hardly any view around, the house was visualised as an introverted object drawing light mainly from the sky.
Traditionally the houses in Mandvi have been built of load bearing walls and timber. The choice to build out of a concrete frame was made due to seismic reasons. The studio visited many homes in the neighbourhood and the resultant design seeks to replicate the sense of space, light quality and intimacy of the homes which exist around.
The body of the building is completely clad in locally procured ‘KHAVDA’ stone, in a worn and pitted texture, echoing the worn building bastions of what used to be a major port in Gujarat of the yesteryears.
The floors in the house throughout are white ‘Bhaswara’ marble from neighboring Rajasthan and the walls and ceilings are seamlessly rendered in cool white lime plaster.
Details such as in-wall storage units, allow for cleaner rooms and better utilization of precious little space.Thin windows with timber verticals allow light breeze and privacy while restricting sunlight.
The house is self-contained and compact at the lower level as a response to Mandvi’s extreme climate while the rooftop has been treated to provide the much needed sense of openness and release.
The timber jaali wraps around the terrace to create an intimate lounging space for cool evenings, from where one may gaze out at the spectacle of the Kutch sky. The blue of the sky bleeds into the gaps between the timbers of the vertical jaali, akin to the balustrades of the neighboring homes.
A short video demonstratesthe cacophony of the thin, winding streets of the inner city, which is characteristic of Kutch. Arrival into the coolth of the home heightens the sense of peace and respite from the hustle and bustle around.

THE SOARING ROCK
HOMES, celebrate LIFE.
They celebrate views, geographies, locales, climates…..
The emotion one feels on arrival at the crest of the site is of liberation, an expanse.
The same emotion is distilled through the placement of the 4 ton rock that soars on the prong of a 6 meter cantilever……
The home predominantly faces the farmlands,Kavaddhara reservoir and the highlands, witness to the most color saturated sunsets.
Living spaces are framed between two simple planes, framing the views as cleanly as possible.
Another plane slips a bit under to become a terracotta terrace and pool plane….
Horizontal lines echo the nature of the PANORAMA.
Stating more would be a waste.

DIYA
A large permanent home on what used to be the family’s farm in earlier years. The presence of more than 200 trees made siting a challenge. “None of the trees were cut”.
The principal materials used are RAMMED EARTH, sourced free of cost from Porbunder (Gandhi’s birthplace) and Copper in sheet form.
“Astute-Patrons” as clients helped push the design and became involved in all choices and decisions. They handpicked “SPASM” off the internet.
Several lateral proposals and debates later, the final form of the house arrived at was a direct representation of their way of life.
Specialist teams have been deployed for specific parts to achieve a building of “HIGH QUALITY”.

GOMATI
The Stone, beneath the sky, stood cold –
Between the runes, a vapour strolled
...a cloak of fleecy fog consoled
- The Quest, Terry O’Leary
Gomati …….MALAVLI ….Maharashtra
This second home has a rather peculiar story.Spasm was commissioned to demolish an existing structure, which was deemed structurally unfit for occupation, and build a new home on the same site.An in depth study, prompted us to reimagine the idea of occupying the site.
Many radical strategies were adopted
_ retaining and recycling the debris of the demolished building as a mound.
_ the sleeping spaces as an introverted assembly around existing trees on the ground level, where one descends into the coolness and comfort of the earth.
_the main pavilion-esque living space on the upper faces the north,overlooking the mature trees which stood on site.
_ the pool sits at the upper level terraceand seems to rise out of the mound.
The house has been imagined in Blue Gray Kotah, an Indian stonewhich forms the main substance of the expression.The naturalness, monolithic quality, cost, availability in different formats, and wear-worthiness of the stone led to its choice as the best defense against the harsh humidity and fierce rain that affects this region.Kotah stoneis used in several forms, from fine chips, to strips, to slabs, to solid cove cut skirtings.The bath spacesarefinished in white Indian Bhanswara marble.
The spatial constructmakes the occupation of this home about the elements. The changes in light intensity are palpable, as is the mood of the rain whether gentle or violently loud.We hope we have delivered the vessel for the family to live a life under the skies, a place to enjoy the rain, wet breezes, encounter rare bugs , a place to grab the dew laden cool grass between their toes.
Gomati, is what this home is called lovingly in the memory of the client’s mother.
SPASM
July, 2016

EXIM TOWER
Dar es salaam, Tanzania
Associated Architects: IPA ARCHITECTS
Arch. John Kelley & Arch. Andy Lamb
A 15 storey tower in the central business district and afforded spectacular ocean views houses a single commercial establishment per floor.
The tower’s body skews itself to the city-grid in consideration of solar orientation, panoramic views. The floor plates are stretched out of the tower in alternate directions to create double height outdoor terraces on the each floor. The terraces are the iconic silhouette of the tower; they allow the user to refresh and experience the tropical climes and the ocean breezes.
The glazed body of the tower is protected from solar gain and glare by a second skin in the form of a stainless steelmesh with a veil like reflective presence. Solar protection will lead to 18 to 22% power saving.
Service cores act as structural mass and deliver clean floor space allowing clean penetration of natural light.
The base of the tower is faced in bottle green granite and the triangular shift between the tower and the city grid is occupied by a water feature which is in fact an open fire sprinkler reservoir.
A 60 feet cascade will resonate and aerate this water body.

TWIN HOUSES
The twin houses in Maturli , ALIBAUG , Maharashtra.
The client wished to develop two homes on an acre each of land.
The homes needed to be country homes for Bombay families to get away from the urban rigmarole.
The project needed to balance the money put up against profitability and a sense of capturing the essence of place.
The two sites though sharing a common boundary, had very different characters, one was a flat land looking at a green hill to the west, the other a land dotted by 9 mango trees with low hanging fruit and foliage.
The region receives high precipitation in the monsoon months from June to end September. The rest of the year, this farmland area is hot and humid. The local homes are usually courtyard homes since convectional cross ventilation works best in the tropics.
Both our approaches are courtyard homes, one a full ground hugging single level structure. The similar but with a pavilion-esque living room and pool at upper level.
The villa 7.
Enclosed with a ten foot high red laterite wall finely crafted like a temple plinth, frequently seen in the Raigad belt, this wall has one big opening towards the view of the hill and lawns adjoining, the opening 40 feet wide is straddled by a blue pool forming a foreground to the verdant view. The entire courtyard is edged with a 10 foot wide verandah, allowing for protected movement between rooms. The pool in a way becomes the threshold between the contained courtyard and the rest of the land.
The villa 8.
The verandah here is 5 feet wide , the courtyard smaller, the rooms like pearls strung on a thread, the weaving of the mango trees into the overall layout heightens the sense of the grove like land, hiding and revealing , breezes come in through brick jaalis, the floor of the verandah is also brick, terracotta providing a visual and tactile coolth.
We, hope the future inhabitants enjoy the sky, the breezes blowing over the water, the movement of the sun, the shadows of trees and smell of fresh rains on the earth.
SPASM
MAY 2017

GLADE ONE
Selected to design a prototype villa for a large golf development at Modasar, 25-30 minutes’ drive from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The studio came up with 4 radically different approaches and 16 variants of the same.
The selected option was further detailed into 4 variants. This particular option was designed so as to minimally disrupt the edge of the fairways, being low slung and flat roofed. In this region mornings as well as evenings are spent under the sky and to promote the same a small feature of a stone staircase was introduced to reinforce the connectivity between the principal living space, the front garden and the green roofed terrace.
The entire roof being green will help in insulating and reducing the heat gain to the roof slab and also reduce the impact of majority of this layout of second homes by seamlessly merging the development with the golfing greens.

HOUSE OF SECRET GARDENS
This cruciform shaped house was evolved to house a family of six. The plot is located at Bopal(Ahmedabad)in a gated community at the end of the internal access road. The principal client is an aware individual and helped immensely in the evolution of the idea. The house is conceived as a cross with living spaces on the lower level immersed in secret garden courtyards allowing for the intimate experience of lush greenery, water bodies, rock-scapes and outdoor art.
The upper level will house spaces for retiring, all to open onto green roofed terraces. The house attempts to control the micro climate so as to least depend on air-conditioning. The main material construct is quarry cut flesh colored sand stone used as stacked screens and rough pylon like walls, the material gradually gets treated and acquires a higher finish towards the inner living spaces.

BRICK KILN HOUSELocation – Alibaug, Maharashtra, India.
The Raigadh district is dotted with Brick Kilns that form an intrinsic part of the landscape here. Our interest lay in using this image as the genesis for the house. The choice of BRICK was based on colour, strength, finish… Blemishes of a handmade unit were key to the overall expression… The red earth brick does not attempt to be precise, neither does it try to create patterns or ordered jaalis as commonly seen in Indian architecture, the brick is what it is, at rest – A STACK, its mass concealing and revealing life within it… The sheer thickness – mass of the brick, keeps the interior spaces comfortable cool. Experience of occupation takes precedence over formal gestures… Sun, rain and wind freely enter the house and will mark it over the years… The stack will gradually get covered with luminescent moss, nature will fight its way back… Living in a country home is about witnessing this war… Frugal Farm living with a series of cells linked by a generous verandah to encourage outdoor occupation. The pool becomes an oasis, its organic form evoking a watering hole with a well attached to it. This was a DESIGN-BUILD assignment, our first as architects. Humble materials, well-crafted. WE, enjoyed building this house.

KHADAKVASLA HOUSE [design 2008 | construction 2009-] Pune, India
Located in khadakvasla: on the leeward side of the Western Ghats…
In the vast openness of the surroundings, it made sense to trap a mysterious forest of dense green by stringing the rooms around it as an intimate Shangri-La against the infinite. This courtyard allows for a private dip in the thicket of the lush vegetation.
A timber lattice over the verandah sets a backdrop that negotiates between the complete enclosures and the central courtyard. This transitional space; of dappled shade promotes a lifestyle in close connection with the outdoors.
The living room, a counterpoint in the house is a tall glass box which will throb with the flickering of the fireplace on cold evenings and will frame the changing hues of the sky as the sun sets.

DEOLALI HOUSE
Weekend homes – have become a testing ground for many young practices in India. At Deolali a beautiful set of Rocking hills sited next to a Reservoir – set aside for weekend “second” homes, offered us an opportunity to build a simple “Pilot – Prototype” for such a brief.
Being three hours from the city by car, the construction method – choice of materials and local skills at hand needed scrutiny.
Precut and ready to assemble metal components and roofing sheets were the preferred solution. “Verandah living – Breezes over the Reservoir and a low sling – almost invisible development seemed APPROPRIATE”.
We hope other Architects – see sense in this approach.

AON [2005-2006] Tanzania, East Africa
Architecture in the tropics is about negotiating the elements. Roofs play a vital role in the defense against these elements.
Built to house a premier insurance company, the project needed to express the contemporary organization with the promise of solid commitment of purpose. Our attempt was to make a strong connection with its green surroundings and to create a humane working environment for a cross cultural staff structure.
The evolution of the design started with three giant concrete cabinets holding archival storage systems and services, sitting on the green and forming the principle enclosure.
A blade; thin canopy, it is a contemporary interpretation of the local Makuti (thatch) roof bandas on local homes, which over-sails unequally over the glazing, responding to solar incidence. It protects the entire perimeter single glazing, allowing it to receive glare-free sunlight and also reducing energy costs. The canopy levitates and reflects light onto the surrounding landscape like a beacon.

MANDVI SCIENCE LAB
Our patrons, for whom we have designed and built two homes, come from Mandvi. The family has excelled in their business ventures and has been carrying out many philanthropic activities in and around the region.
This particular project is the construction of laboratory facilities for girl students of 12th grade.
The idea was, to save the one tree which stands on the very tight, difficult to access site. We saw this as a tremendous opportunity, a project where some scientific principles can be integrated into the build itself.
The method of construction chosen was steel box sections as unit members all to a 1200mm grid, cut welded and assembled after delivery to site as a kit of parts. The labs will be column free and the entire outer shell is thin steel framing and walls with terracotta cones, made by a local potter community.
The idea is to make the labs, well lit, yet comfortable in terms of temperature, through evaporative cooling by suspending wet Khus reed Matts and green climber screens. The Venturi effect of the breezes flowing through the terracotta cone walls, will add to the natural cooling of all levels.
Solar panels will produce supplemental power and hot water power for evening lighting and lab needs.

HOUSE WITH THE BLACK PAVILLION
House with the Black Pavilion .
Located in an upscale Ahmedabad neighborhood, this rather large home occupies an elevated landscape.
Oriented to face north, the body of this cast concrete home postures itself such that the main living room is just a threshold like black concrete slab of gallant proportions.
With greens all around and roofs landscaped the Living room, becomes bridge like and connects the private, subterranean cool, entertainment areas and pool with the bedrooms.
The overall idea is to create a home with several green courts, roofs, terraces.
Several strategies have been deployed to actively and passively mitigate heat.
The patrons, seem to enjoy the finer things in life and house will one day become a vessel for art , sculpture and an atmosphere of understated elegance and sophistication.
We, look forward to the joy of building .

SANSKRITI VIHAR
The site and context of a 109 foot high temple shikhar prompts our design.
The strategy is to evolve a building which is as INCLUSIVE in spirit and working as the eastern philosophies that will be studied here.
Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism all have been rooted in India over the millennia and shaped our culture; making us unique as people. The common factor of these oldest and most refined religions is INCLUSIVITY – the ability to absorb all nuances of human nature and through clear though and conduct, delivering a true PEACE of mutual coexistence with all creatures and nature on the planet.
We, choose to understand this INCLUSIVITY in all our architecture, a means to deliver true meaning to our work through understanding our specificity of context. We are born of this culture of PEACE.
The architectural solution we propose, positions the CONSTRUCT of the building as a modern day KUND… A feature that has been an adjunct to temples from the early ages, where the very genesis of life was performed.
A place of congregation, reflection, a place of respecting and understanding the almighty forces of nature such as PRITHVI, JAL, AGNI, VAYU AND AAKASH.
TThe spirit of our proposal is to DIG into the earth; create a construct out of BARE BRICK ARCHES… Being a HOMAGE to the EARTH/PRITHVI.
The KUND like construct will harness the RAIN water as a true stepped WELL. Pumped, filtered and used for the service of the students.
The WIND catches atop the building help ventilate the construct as support to services and fresh air changes. The entire KUND construct, has a stepping surface, this surface becomes a phenomenological traversal of the levels, of time, of finding your own path… Becoming a zone encouraging the INTERFAITH… We see students and teachers meeting, congregating and interacting informally, under the SKY/AAKASH. The mystical universe… We want our building to promote a sense of wonder, a burning passion to learn the essence of these faiths keeping the AGNI of knowledge alive…
Buildings with such strong, meaningful purposes as this, where the entire focus is on education, on the spirit of realizations shared by learned souls, need to be vessels of transportation, from darkness to LIGHT, from mere existence to AWARE beings; from seeing the light and progressing to ENLIGHTENMENT.
The project is visualized in predominantly two materials – BRICK and CONCRETE.
The bricks will be carefully chosen and possibly even collected from older buildings being demolished (recycling in the purest sense).
This suggesting a RENEWAL of the old, a sort of REBIRTH of the earthen material.
The LIGHT entering through the KUND FAÇADE will be sensed in all its variances at each level, also reflecting off the water contained by the L-shaped Kund. Light will form the central substance of the building invited in, conjured, reflectedand even sensed as dark and deep shadows in spaces such as the Asana hall and Shine room. We expect the three dimensional arched arcade structures to reflect and reverberatesound of chants at a pitch and resonance bringing the users closer to the vibrations of the past knowledge they seek to uncover.
We see the building ageing like a gracious spirit. Its body (within and without) supporting and nurturing the curiosity, the love, the laughter and the passion of its users.

GANDIPET HOUSE
GANDIPET house-Hyderabad
This country home for a large family is located on Lake OsmanSagar. The family owns a fair acreage, and plans to set up organic farming, horse stables etc.
The land has a very placid peaceful serenity, with huge mature trees and some rocks so iconic of the Deccan landscape. The green on the lake edge is visited by many bird species migratory and resident.
The steel framed, dual column unit is evolved for lightness and quick clean building, without ruining the site and shoe horning the linear house onto site.
Rammed earth, as infill panels on the lower level and waxed plywood insulated panels will form the clear structural modular construct, where the body of the building will express itself lucidly.
The steel roof rafters, extend beyond the roof and echo the tree branches and express a wing like lightness.
The pool is the inserted between two tree clumps so as to form a green archway over the water’s surface.

TERRA TOWER HOUSEMumbai, India
This project is a TOWER form of living, with close family. To be built on a tight lot in the eastern suburbs of Bombay, the vertical assemblage of spaces, terraces, double heights and voids, creates a new expression.
Like a chiseled block of terracotta, the project becomes sculptural, allowing movement between floors within the hollowed façade, which expresses the families’ affinity to nature and the sky.
Building in Bombay is a real challenge, we hope to overcome it.

CASA BASTION
Located, in the leafy neighborhood of Race course road, Coimbatore-- Tamil nadu.
This single family home is characterized by two stone Bastions. Thesebastions hold the smaller private spaces like bedrooms, kitchen, gym., ensuites etc. the more open glazed volume in between, is the main double height living space, with high walls to display large art works.
The arrival is at the first level, leaving the cars, staff accommodation and utilities at the lowest level. The form of the house conceals, a lovely precious green courtyard, around which the home is wrapped. The space will serve as a place for children to play, outdoor entertainment and to place sculptures at times.
The movement through the house is so orchestrated that the, connect with nature and the elements is seamless, a sense of serenity is sought.

STONE HOUSE
Located, ahead of Alibaug, along the Konkan coast, is Murud. This house is a project which is conceived as a tropical case study project.
All, the spaces are in series, the entire project is assembled under a simple sharp expansive sloped roof.
All walls are granite slabs 30 mm thick, installed vertically. The windows are minimal PANORAMAh, and allow for a seamless connect with the surrounds.
The two ends of the organization are living room and dining room, with sleeping spaces in between.
Very deep eaves, and higher volumes at the ends make everyday life a sort of celebration of the sun, wind, rain and the rustle of palm leaves.
The language is modern but the ethos timeless.

CHAPORA RIVER HOUSE
Goa has always had a draw for Indians and westerners. Our patron has found an absolutely idyllic existing house on a very peculiar salt pan bund, overlooking the Chapora River, before it meets the Arabian Sea.
With only natural views of water, palms, mangroves and shrubbery, the small but rather perfectly located home is being completely restructured and refurbished. The client’s ultimate goal is to lead a self-sufficient organic lifestyle.
The first site visit in the rains left an indelible mark on us. The naturalness of the site is very beautiful and has this amazing river edge flora and fauna, preserving the same as best as possible seemed prudent.
The Landscape needs very sensitive tending too. Every intervention has to be respectful of the fragile existing surroundings.

BANYAN TREE HOUSE
This courtyard home was designed such that the big Banyan becomes a living companion of the house and the inhabitants. The courtyard becomes a rather controlled environment and the tree stands by outside the court, almost sort of looking in.
The giant roof, is the innovation in this project, a cue from Le Corbusiers, Villa Shodan, in a way. The roof floats, embraces the tree like a tiara and becomes a garden atop, providing the occupants with insulation from the searing Ahmedabad heat.
The body of the house will be screens of wood and stone. These will allow amazing controlled light and air, keeping out dust and bugs. The courtyard will allow for release of the thermal stack with operable louvers.
The pools at upper level and lower will almost embrace the thick leathery foliage of the Banyan , the tree under which the Buddha sat….once.

XY HOUSE
A second home to be located on a hill top near Lonavala, with a very sloping contour and a rather tight area. This house was conceived as a construct of two rectangular prisms. The X prism will be a light weight latticed tube structure made of steel portals and braced for structural integrity. It will be clad in light weight boards and finished in standing seam Zinc. This tube will house a double height living room, kitchen and tv room.
The X prism will structurally hang off the Y prism which is visualized as a concrete mast/spine. This vertical prism will house four sleeping chambers with individual decks towards the view.
This curious juxta-positioning allows for every space having a view at a different elevation, minimal impact or footprint on the site and a shaded verandah next to the pool.
The house is a take on FLW’s Romeo and Juliet tower – in our case Romeo will sweep Juliet off her feet.

ZANZIBAR HOUSE
This idyllic site, sits on an elevated cliff; 12m above an isolated beach on the Western coast of the Island. The primal quality of the landscape prompted the evolution of framing the horizon; vertically crossed with the framing of ruinous church spire to the east.
The house in this instance is visualized as a body of timeless brute as a continuum of the horizon. The classical; almost platonic intersection of vertical and horizontal voids transforms into a floating beacon of light from the horizon.
The ultimate aim is to directly engage the site without pretence.

ISCON MALL
A prime location, with a tired dated mall, presented an opportunity to bring new thought to this building type. Façade strategies, studies were carried out, and reorganization of the internal scheme of things was pondered upon.
Facades, of soft glowing Indian white marble, perforated Corten panels, Black and red expanded mesh, and stones in wire boxes were all investigated.
An ongoing investigation in this rather bland building type , continues….a search for authenticity and sensible architecture.

LABURNUM RESIDENCES
The Urban population of India is 32 percent of the total population. Majority of this populace choose to live in apartments. For such a large demographic, the product and choices available are very limited and unimaginative.
Laburnum proposes to set a benchmark, a precedent for eco-sensitive, humane development. The premise is to develop a product, which uses common sense in an uncommon way.
More often than not, vertical housing projects take away greenery, disregard the comfort of users, and at the most, lean more towards the visual impact for sale rather than true content and ethos.
Laburnum attempts to be true to its ethos of bringing green rather than taking it away, controlling the microclimate through active and passive measures.
From the orientation of plans, to the cross ventilation, control of incident light, humidification, oxygenation of the immediate environment and the specification of materials with lower carbon footprint have all been built into the design.
The main issues in Ahmedabad are heat, arid atmosphere and dust.
The Laburnum development proposes an environmental filter cloaked judiciously all around the building. This is not a mere screen of louvers but a system of parts, strategies which work together to provide comfort of occupation and reduction of energy usage.

ARROW HEAD HOUSE
Arrow head…
Pawna , a location with a fabulous lake view, the site an extreme contoured slope,
It makes sense to challenge the slope with a 90 degree corner like an arrowhead,
This way of addressing the position of a Cartesian geometry on the slope will allow for harnessing of the view, and create a lovely basalt courtyard, a sky window of tranquility.
The entry is visualized as a descent down leisurely steps into this courtyard with the home and the organization of spaces forming an L-shaped filter to the glorious view.
SIMPLE moves to deliver an endearing project.

WATER FRONT DEVELOPMENTUrban plan, Dar-es-Salaam
Dar-es-Salaam is peculiar in its urban texture. The old waterfront abutting the harbor edge is now incapable of meaningful expansion. The pressures of rising population, vehicles and infrastructural requirements need to addressed sensitively.
Land reclamation along Eastern open coastal edge of the existing city center appropriates itself due to shallow continental shelf and forms a strategic landmass for development of additional well planned infrastructure, buildings and parks and lends an opportunity to develop a well-proportioned waterfront and marina.
The challenge in the urban planning of this development is primarily to extend the urban texture of the existing city and carefully grafting the added acreage in a seamless manner.
The proposal solves traffic issues and load on infrastructure and essential services.
The aim is To create:
A winding profile, hence engaging the ocean along a longer length and therefore delivering many more ocean edged plots.

ABSTRACT OF INTERVIEW WITH INDIAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDER.What are the ideas that define SPASM?
We have a flamenco kind of approach and Ping-Pong kind of pace. Shared experiences over the years make every project we take on enjoyable. Our approach is very chaotic upfront. Our team is intrinsically involved from the get-go; several ideas are put on the table and worked through laterally. Essentially, our expression is based on the concerns we develop while understanding what the task is at hand. These concerns are then translated into a physical tangible buildable construct using our own personal intuitive logic – rational decisions based on relevance, appropriateness, technology, budgets, craftsmanship, locale, the list is too long…
SPASM is not interested in being avant-garde. Like Marcel Proust said, “To see new landscapes you don’t need to always journey, but have new eyes.” We try to be very human in our approach and not too fussy in our details. We do try to bring a poetic touch to our expression but never at the cost of appropriateness. An eastern kind of “inclusivity” is sought; every aspect of building, occupation and future ageing of projects is mulled over – many, many, many times over. Every commission is an opportunity to discover ourselves, through what we propose and build.

SPASM has designed in India and East Africa, what ‘concerns’ arise as a practice based in India?
The concerns remain the same throughout:
How honest can you be?
How sensible can you be?
How humble can you be?
What is relevant?
How long will it remain so?
Can your project go further than its apparent purpose?
How humane can it be?
Will it be endearing, through how it performs?
Concerns also change; it’s all very fluid.

What are SPASM’s ‘objectives’ – individual and professional?
SPASM is a small controlled practice. We’re interested in an intimate relationship with our studio, our team, our collaborators, our models, drawings, visualizations, products, buildings and our clients. We do this because we love it. We sense displeasure; we respect questioning and constructive criticism on all the projects. We don’t know how to run our studio any other way. The extremely personal way our studio runs gives us immense happiness. Our ultimate objective is simply happiness – a sense of doing something.

You both graduated from the Academy of Architecture and initiated the practice with a collaborative agenda – what influences your architecture?
Influences are many, from all spheres of life – from travels to our children. People who think outside the box to achieve difficult goals and challenges are inspiring. People who teach you what NOT to do through their work are also very important influences, perhaps beacons….. Both of us have many personal influences and mentors from art teachers to books we’ve read, colleagues, professors, ex-employers – too many in facts.

Practicing in developing India and continuing to produce patient qualitative architecture can be challenging. What essential ideas contribute to this quality? What is the ‘process’?
Our buildings try to be the best representations of their own reality. An architect channels all the conditions, constraints, functional issues, resources at hand, etc., into a resolute whole. That’s where the special quality comes – in an architect’s sense of light, lightness and weight of materials, workmanship, the act of putting things together….. More than ideas, we feel that it is the inner sensibility that contributes to that special feel or quality.
Process is a constantly changing animal! Sometimes it’s as easy as a stallion to ride on, and sometimes as difficult as a chameleon to nail down – it’s never the same. However, there always comes a, “this feels right” moment.

THOUGHTS ……
Having pondered about what we do every single day since 1987, one can't help but get to the truest answer of this profession.
Architects world over try to solve problems, the way they go about it, is their method statement or ethos or angle at the profession. Most get identified through the atypical yet recognizable way of arriving and realizing projects.

We, find this constant honing of ones obsessions or preoccupations rather tiring. Also, with every project even if all are just homes, how can a singular debate solve or provide relevant solutions. Identifiable yes, purer and purer yes, however missing the mark by far.

More so in India, a country of such differences, Land, climate, social structure, aspirations, and many more.
It would be blasphemy to create an architectural method that is identifiable and singular. The part that stings is world over practices are pursuing paths of spatial research, data based or invention hinged. Basically missing the core of the project. Something we call the SOUL. Missing the INTUITION, the artist is capable of….

Architecture is also seen, studied, and analyzed in a rather tired way, newness.
It seems only newness, visual at most is recognized as ground breaking. Can data gathering result in good architecture? To us architecture is not a problem to solve but rather a celebration of peculiarities and aspirations, a mood not a message.

There is very little or no content based introverted thought on the genesis of common sense Architecture.

As a practice, which has dealt predominantly with homes, we have spent lot of time analyzing what we are meant to deliver? How to erase our own foolish preoccupations?

Look at birds, so many different, beautiful, and absolutely perfect beings.

The brief is the same ....However evolutionary mechanics has created each masterpiece based on its specificity. Can't our work be as informed or try to be as close to personality free and contextuallyloaded.

Tough ask this, the whole shaping of an architect at school and after is based on a case study model and being the,” art related”, profession it is , what we take in first is the visual not the visceral . The building blocks or thought processes become deeply engrained early on and naturally dictate how we even begin to see the world. Our methods provide easy paths.

Geoffrey Bawa, once remarked, “Too much architecture between me and the view”. Remarkable few words…..

Pure intuitive, experiential building of atmospheres. How difficult is that.

Different houses explore different THEMES, stories of the emotions that led to their birthing. Sites talk, they convey a lot, if you listen, intently.

When beginning the project, one carries the information and personality of the users within. Once on site, time is spent perceiving deeply, thinking but from the gut, no room for intellect to interfere in the process. Humility is a key, in understanding firsthand the essences.

Homes, are vessels for living, they embrace laughter, joy, family life, love, despair and painall the emotions we go through. They keep us warm, allow us to control our experience of the climes.
A good home is like a loving parent…..

MORE THOUGHTS……

The eye and the camera are opposites, in the way they work….

The eye is at once, umbral - penumbral, flickering and registering in real-time the myriad, changes in mood and light, moods can change in a fraction or prolong over a still crimson morning.

The eyes perceive, they build in depth with apparent focus. The eyes relay and record, leaving a seemingly vivid impression of atmospheres which become cerebral preserves, fantasies suspended in the subconscious. Revoked at will and at times involuntarily with peculiar stimuli, a scent or temperature or a tune……

The camera, on the other hand, is feeble yet useful. It captures a still, with the intensity of a kind of precise jab at the moment in time. Producing the closest there is to a shared experience of the space or mood of the moment.

Perhaps architectural or spatial photography is the most challenging as there is no animated subject, rather a kind of still somber space, however in the right hands, a camera can elevate the image beyond words and relate a story.

As architects, we tell specific stories of locales, climates, atmospheric content and imaginings of life lived therein. A photograph conveys so much more than the written word, primarily because again the eyes take over!
The eyes transform the printed image into a phantasmagorical reality for a fleeting moment immersing the reader into the story being related.

There can never be any equal experience than sauntering through spaces, pausing to take in the nuances of light, shade, depth, vibrancy of color, rustle of leaves, wisps of air, sounds of birds and the crunch of gravel underfoot.

On a recent trip to Angkor Wat, humbled by the magnificence of the ancient relics, we experienced a sudden burst of torrid rain, like the sky just opening up and weeping in joy, at 4:30 pm, in the golden light of the sun at an acute angle.

It was like time and place twisted into each other to show us how magical this planet is and how its beauty is revealed abruptly and unabashedly just for 15 minutes. No one clicked a picture; some moments are best left to the spectacle of Nature.

A realization came to us the best picture is the one you never clicked.
There is however a need to document our world projects and stories there in.At best we can relate to the simplicity of a photograph, to its directness and detached nature of reporting just the visual. Light, texture, sky, movement, depth, contrast, vibrancy, perspective etc. …. It’s when the quality of a picture that goes beyond mere reporting to establishing a deep connect with the essence of image that it etches words and feelings , it becomes poetic .

- Best Building Awards conducted by AQRB, Tanzania- Third place for Exim Tower

- AICA 2011 Award for Artists in Concrete for AON Headquarters

- Selected as top 7 Architectural Practices in India 2011 by Forbes, India

- TRENDS EXCELLENCE AWARD for best architecture and design 2013

- Aces of Spaces Award For Brick kiln House

SPASM- Is not a singular practice....
Modus

Two station points in an architectural perspective render greater depth to an image. Over the last fifteen
years, through endless hours, we have used each other as station points of revelation; evolving and
developing out particular expression to specific conditions.

SPASM, very early on its career, has had the opportunity to actively operate in both India and East Africa
- tropical zones but both culturally different.

Today, as we see it, the demands of this profession have grown the human animal is rapidly evolving,
constantly on the move, interested in every experience there is to be had ...

We cannot claim to be regionalists - we are Indian, educated here,
Practicing in India and East Africa ...

We search for a fresh and pragmatic solution every time by examining each situation within its own
specificity, peculiarity and cultural definitions ...

We do not, promote a method or solution.
We do not, theorize.
We do not; think the process is in any way similar in every project.

We seek... to capture the fleeting essence.
We seek... a reality check before we face our clients.
We seek... to uplift the human spirit.

We search... emotion.
We search... apparent ease-effortlessness.
We search... clarity.

We search... for the ‘this feels right’ moment.

Certain considerations are paramount in our understanding of our work...

USER
The primary source of evolving any project is the client sensibilities and cultural definitions, our belief is
that any of our projects is by the user and for the user and can only survive if it is user-focused.

SITE
The essence of the site’s context: climate, physical features, views, reachability is crucial to inform the
project.

PURPOSE
The inquiry into what lies at the core of the project’s purpose; shapes its relevance in architectural,
economic and social value.

EXPERIENCE
The evolution of a project is generated directly from the act of human occupation, through the quality
and variance of light, the reference to other spaces and the directness of view, the ability to adapt and
the patterns of erosion in materials and memories.

ACT OF CONSTRUCTION
The process of putting together the construct, the impact of geometry, the weight, textures, and spatial
qualities of the materials informs the physical embodiment of the project. The crucial task is to compose
the project rooted around the essence of these considerations. And above all, deliver an
endearing,
relevant, humane project.
Our methods remain very intuitive, the first strains of the idea approaches through several dialogues
within the tea, different perspectives are debated, weighted for originality, authenticity, and
appropriateness, edited and fine tuned to their potent best.

Many times, initial ideas are shelved due to inappropriateness, and recur as themes for other conditions
where their potencies are reclaimed even stronger.

Geoffrey Bawa once said “Too much architecture between me and the view!” This perhaps has become
a sort of ethos of SPASM’s architecture.